Super 8 by Wyndham Rexburg

We were stranded in Rexburg with car trouble and picked this motel for its price and closeness to the repair shop. After reading the reviews, I expected a sad, bad version of Motel 6. It was far from that. Check-in was seamless, and both owners chatted with us. The whole place felt clean and fresh, and the mattresses were about 18 inches deep. Our room had a cold refrigerator, microwave, TV with a great channel selection, and an alarm clock with two USB ports. The bathroom had a full-size tub, and there was also an iron and ironing board plus a blow dryer under the sink. We haven’t had breakfast yet, but at this very fair price I expect it’ll be standard. I was really pleasantly surprised!

Once we got past my initial doubts, the stay turned out decent for the money for a night or two. A friendly young man checked in my family of four, and the lobby, kitchen, and room were all clean and nice. Just a heads-up, there’s no closet in the room. The pool was fun but super cold. The hot tub was only lukewarm, and its jets were weak. Breakfast was pretty generic: toast, waffles, cereal, yogurt, juice, and donuts. They had no spray for the waffle grill, so the waffles stuck. The guy in charge of breakfast looked miserable the whole time. The woman checking us out was nice and friendly. Two things bothered me. There was a pee stain on the mattress protector, and housekeeping left an envelope for tips. I didn’t think the service warranted a tip, and being asked or expected to tip for everything is a big turnoff for me now.

The room had a sewer smell, squeaky beds, and a shower that drained so slowly I was standing in a pool of water. The pillows were extremely thin, and the rest of the hotel looked run down, with a hole in the wall. There was a note from the previous guests saying their room stank, the AC didn’t work, and housekeeping never came during their three-day stay. We asked the front desk whether our room had actually been cleaned in case the note was missed. The rooms themselves are nice, but the woman at the desk wasn’t very kind. The pool was supposed to be heated, and the cover was on when we got there. When we asked about swimming, we were told it was only there to keep the water warm, but the front desk woman said we had to remove it ourselves. The water was freezing, definitely not heated, and there were no towels. When we asked for some, she rudely said the next shift would be in soon and bring them. Breakfast was OK.

Good location, and the place was clean. The pool and hot tub were nice and clean too. We wished there were another mirror so a whole roomful of people could get ready. The security lock was hanging off, with part of it on the floor. They say “no pets,” but a woman was allowed to have her dog all over the place. It put its front paws on the breakfast counters while we were eating, and staff stood there watching.